A tour company that has come under attention for reckless driving and causing environmental damage has gone on the defensive, pulling their videos and arguing with users on Facebook.
As reported, last Friday a group of Czech tourists were taking a bus ride across the interior of southeast Iceland, with the Czech tourist company Adventura. Partway through the tour, the bus flipped over, landing upside-down in the lake Blautulón. All passengers on board escaped unharmed, although litres of oil spilled into the pristine water.
This is not the first accident this company has had, and video footage of the company’s own promotional material showed tourists sitting on top of the bus during a river crossing, and the driver taking the vehicle across unpaved roads in the highlands at speeds around 80 kph, often while taking sharp turns.
Within hours of Grapevine embedding the video in their article, it was tagged as private and removed. An alert reader, however, downloaded a copy and uploaded it to her own account, which you can watch below.
Meanwhile, the company has been arguing with users on its own Facebook page. There, numerous exchanges can be seen between Icelanders and the company. Many of the posts Icelanders have made on their wall have been deleted. The full archive of the screenshots, as well as the original video, can be downloaded here. Below are a few samples, which can be read by clicking the thumbnails:
The company has been accused of off-roading as well, something which is expressly forbidden in Iceland, for conservationist reasons.
In response to these events, the driver and guide Roman, of Tatrabus, wrote that “I am working as a guide in other countries all [over] the world and my priority and the priority of Adventura company is always: take care [of] the people, their safety and care about local nature and the law.”
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